Thinking about a pointy.....

....or am I being silly? I have a neutered basset hound who's brilliant with DD but would love some canine company.Growing up we had rescue ex racers so I know how lovely they are.

DD is 9mo. I'm going back to work two days a week. DH will come back at lunch for Ddog, and we'll have a walker. Ddog is laid back, but likes to have a play.

I don't know if I can take on a puppy. I had thought about getting a basset puppy, but they can be incredibly difficult from 7mo to 2 years, and I think that it may be too much. Greyhounds, on the other hand, are (in my experience) chilled out, happy dogs that like to play but will gladly cuddle up and snooze.

So calling all pointy experts! Do you think that a pointy would fit into our dynamic?

Pointy dogs almost always work well. Just one word of caution though. Dogs find toddlers way harder than DC at any other age. They're unpredictable, at a threatening level, and very stressful for dogs. If you get a new dog, you will still be getting to know it when your DD is starting to toddle about. Potential for anxiety and problems is high at this stage, so maybe get through this with your existing dog before adding a new one.

Hmmmm, I hadn't thought about them bring threatened by DD. Ddog does have slight separation anxiety. He's not destructive, doesn't bark/howl or mess in the house; when we go out he sleeps but when we get back doesn't want us out of his sight. It's very much a frantic 'don't leave me', but he's been fine when we've left him with DM's dogs. When he's left he has toys, chews and the radio on and is walked before we go out.

Which is why I think that he needs company. Do you think that a cat would give him the right company? Until DD has got her toddling done then think about another dog?

If you do get a cat it will mean that it would be more difficult to find the right pointy at a later date, because not all of them are cat workable.

Can I suggest that you speak to your local pointy rescue and see what they advise in terms of small children and their pointies? We had our last dog when DS was a baby and she was the best dog you could imagine with him - clearly you need to take sensible precautions, but it wasn't a problem for us.

Can you let your beagle off the lead - as pointies do love a mad chase around when out on a walk....

Hmm. I think it might be best to try to work on the separation anxiety first. It sounds pretty mild.

If you make sure you don't allow him to initiate any interactions with you, and ensure he "asks" for anything he wants (whether that's dinner or out the door or whatever) by asking for a nice calm sit first, that will help. Don't interact with him for 30 minutes before you leave, don't say goodbye, and don't interact with him for 30 minutes when you return.

It sounds really harsh! But this is doing two things - gently reducing his dependence on you, and making the whole going out /coming back thing very uninteresting to reduce his arousal and anxiety around the event.

I'm not saying don't get another dog, just that it is something you need to consider. Toddlers are the hardest bit! And it might be kindest to try to resolve your own dog's issues because that'll benefit him regardless of where or who he's with

We do that with him. He has to calm down and sit before he gets stroked etc when we come in. The only time he howls is, if we've been out then have been back for a bit (maybe a few hours) when we go upstairs to put DD to bed and he's left downstairs then he does some howling!

He's very much an off the lead hound! He has brilliant recall, especially for a basset, it's actually better than DM's labrador!

Pre DD, I'd have no hesitation and would get another dog! All your replies are helping. It's a bigger decision now we've got DD, and we want to do the right thing for any animal joining our family as well as Ddog.

He loves DR, their favourite game is for him to sit by the settee, DD to sit on me with her legs dangling over the edge. Then she pulls off a sock so he'll lick her foot, I have to grab sock and put it back on, she'll do the other one, so we go round in circles for ten minutes with peals of laughter, giggling and tail wagging!

Yes, Ddog loves BLW! I'm obviously slightly bias but he's brilliant, not protective about food/toys etc. I've been in touch with some rescues, just waiting to hear back, one's very positive so we'll visit all of them before making a decision.

We got whippy when ds2 was 2yo (but significantly smaller than your average 2yo at only 12kg, so more like the size of a small one year old). Whippy is distinctly ds2's dog. He follows him everywhere. They are a team. (Whippy is also half cat, of that I am convinced).

Our lurcher is more wary of the doc's esp ds2. She doesn't quite know what to do with him, but tolerates him anyway.

I guess my point (excuse the pun) is some pointys will fit brilliantly into your current set up, others maybe less so, but a good rescue should be able to advise.